A triumphant Team Canada
Germany 7-2 Malta
Russia 7-0 Malaysia
Canada 7-5 Australia
As the 12BET World Cup of Pool got underway today (Tuesday) at the iconic York Hall, London, there were good wins for Germany, Russia and Canada. Featuring 32 two-man teams from around the globe, the 12BET World Cup of Pool is into its 11th year as reigning champions Chinese Taipei attempt to become the first team ever to successfully defend the title.
Canada looked as if they might be the first seeded to team to fall by the wayside as they trailed Australia 5-4. However, Justin Campbell and Michael Cacciola failed to seal the deal and Australia will need another year to record their first ever win in the World Cup
John Morra, who is now semi-retired from the game, said, “We were happy to get through our first match. There is a lot of pressure here and we haven’t done particularly well over the last few years. You could see some of our shots were a bit shaky. Sometimes we put a little too much pressure on ourselves.
In the opening match of the tournament, former champions Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) eased their way into the second round as they defeated Malta, a last-minute replacement for visa-less South Africa. A big early lead was too much for the Maltese pair of Tony Drago and Ryan Pisani.
“It is always a little difficult going into the first match of an event because you never know what is going to happen and how your form will be. It went well, even though I made too many mistakes personally”, said Souquet.
Hohmann added, “I couldn’t quite figure the table at the beginning so I made some positional errors. Ralf made some good shots to keep us in the match and fortunately for us Malta made a few mistakes, which helped us to get into our game and develop a rhythm. We are harmonised as a team, we have played in the World Cup many times and we have won it too. We need to figure out the break and then get the feel of the table and get comfortable.”
The perennial Russian pairing of Konstantin Stepanov and Ruslan Chinakhov enjoyed a brief outing as they pasted Malaysia 7-0 to move into round two. Malaysia had never advanced to round two of this tournament and never looked close this time. Watched by their coach, Johan Ruijsink, the Russians looked solid throughout.
Chinakhov said, “It feels like we have played together 1,000 years. We have always played this tournament together and we know each other’s game very well – we don’t need to talk too much. We have a good connection.”
Broadcast for six days live on Sky Sports in the UK; the tournament is available live in over 100 countries around the world. A comprehensive list of countries and networks broadcasting the World Cup of Pool can be found here: http://www.matchroompool.com/world-cup-of-pool/#watchlive
The 12BET World Cup of Pool will carry a $250,000 prize fund including $60,000 for the champions. The event will be produced by Matchroom Sport Television and televised live on Sky Sports as well as other stations around the world.
12BET World Cup of Pool Tickets are on sale now at www.matchroompool.com priced at just £10.00 per evening session (Tuesday to Sunday) and £8.00 per weekend afternoon session. Tuesday to Friday afternoons are free. A season ticket covering all sessions is priced at £60.00.
2017 12BET World Cup of Pool is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue and Chalk of the event.
Play continues tonight with three more first round matches:
Spain (12) v Romania
Scotland (7) v New Zealand
England A (4) v India
